The last time we saw Tapestry of Nations in December of 1999, we had sort of stumbled upon it as we exited the American Adventure, so this time we wanted to make certain we saw the whole thing. It is quite an enjoyable parade, and I love how much the puppets, as well as the drummers on the floats, interact with the crowds; they really pay a lot of attention to the people, and that makes the parade even better. After the parade was over, we spent some time waiting for Illuminations to begin, enjoying the warmth from one of the nearby large torches. The rain had ended while we were eating dinner, but it was still quite cool out, which we hadn't really expected for July in Florida. Soon, Illuminations began, and we had quite good viewing spots. I love all the fire from the middle of the lagoon, and I'm amazed at how intense the heat felt, as far away as we were. Quite an uplifting show, I think, and Laura loves any kind of fireworks. So after Illuminations, we made our way to the car and went back to the hotel for the night.

One of the drum floats from Tapestry of Nations

Some of the puppets from Tapestry of Nations

Now for that "ending" paragraph. For some reason, I spent much of the day privately lamenting about what used to be. As I said before, I have been to Epcot every year since my first visit, so I had witnessed the gradual change in the scope of the park. But for some reason, it seemed to hit me harder on this visit. Sure, I enjoyed my day at Epcot, but I still missed the old EPCOT Center. I still remember seeing Spaceship Earth with the original narration, the one before Walter Cronkite (Vic Perrin was the original narrator, if you're interested). One of my favorites was always the World of Motion, seeing all the comical scenes while hearing the straight narration by Gary Owens. I enjoyed seeing Dreamfinder and Figment at Journey into Imagination, or the original Magic Journeys 3D film there. The Kitchen Kabaret and the original Listen to the Land boat ride at the Land. As boring as the original Universe of Energy sometimes seemed, I really learned a lot about energy from it, and I enjoyed it for that. And of course there was Horizons.

Spaceship Earth at night. One of my new favorite pictures.

Can you still have fun in Epcot today? Sure. We did. Will we go back again? Of course we will. But now it seems that the emphasis is more on having fun than learning. At the World of Motion, you could learn about the history of transportation, as well as some of the developments for transportation in the future. Test Track is quite a fun ride, and gives a little insight into how cars are tested today, but there isn't that sense of history or learning. Over at the Land, I've only seen Food Rocks once, and I don't really plan on going back. As I mentioned before, I saw a glimmer of what used to be in Spaceship Earth, even with the new narration; and the new ending scenes help to show how the future of communication may be. Innoventions seems so much more commercial than Communicore ever did. Once we got to World Showcase, I was reminded that this area of the park hasn't changed that much from the original vision of learning about the customs and cultures of other people around the world, and I started to feel a little better. Then seeing Tapestry of Nations and Illuminations helped even more, and I felt rather relieved. Although much of the focus of Epcot has changed, especially in Future World, you do get to feel a sense of community with the world, which to me has always been the underlying purpose of the park.

Up next: Animal Kingdom.

- Story and Photos Steve Burns
Posted

Steve is a three-time Disney Store National Trivia finalist and webmaster of BurnsLand, home of Steve's Disney Railroad Adventures.

E-mail Steve at steve@startedbyamouse.com, discuss this article in the StartedByAMouse.com Disney Discussion Forums or use the Talkback feature below.

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